Proud Panthers rather look ahead than behind

Weiss craves longer playoff run but is optimistic that the years ahead are far brighther than the bleak past

April 27, 2012|By Harvey Fialkov, Sun Sentinel

SUNRISE — The ritual postgame handshakes were done.

The rubber rats that were thrown by an exhausted but re-energized fan base more out of appreciation and robotic habit than celebratory joy were swept off the ice as several Panthers malingered in disbelief, not wanting to face the reality that this rewarding season had come to a sudden ending.

But it was. Seventeen minutes after Thursday turned into Friday, New Jersey's Calder Cup finalist Adam Henrique found a loose puck that got past forward Shawn Matthias on his stick for a slot-shot past goalie Jose Theodore at 3:47 of the second overtime for a heartbreaking 3-2 Game 7 loss.

The Panthers showed the same resiliency in the locker room as they did on the ice all season and all series long.

After taking a few minutes to compose themselves, this group of castoffs assembled by General Manager Dale Tallon that transformed a floundering franchise into division champions while garnering league-wide relevance and respect, was already looking to a brighter future.

"They got some good veteran guys who've been through the trenches,'' Devils goalie Martin Brodeur said. "They got a great goalie in Jose and [Scott Clemmensen]. They're well coached; they're a tough team to play. They hang around.

"That shows experience when you have teams that stay in your face all the time, you can't shake them off. No lead was safe.''

No one appreciated the Panthers' first foray into the postseason in 12 years more than the heart and soul of the team, Stephen Weiss, who spoke as if he was wearing the well-deserved, 'C' on his sleeve and not the, 'A', for alternate.

"It stings to lose at home, but we've got some great years ahead,'' Weiss said. "We've got some kids coming up that are pretty darn good players, so it'll be a fun summer training, trying to do it all over again next year.''

After finally gotting his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs in his 10th season, Weiss craves the whole meal and not just an appetizer.

"We set the bar [high] this year. It wasn't expected of us,'' he said. "We've got to go beyond that now. It's not going to be good enough to take a step backward. We have to get serious and come in with the right attitude like we did this year and try and keep playing longer.''

Matthias, who providing defensive grit on the third line, was penalized for running over goalie Martin Brodeur at 1:50 of the third period that erased a goal by Tomas Fleischmann.

A source told the Sun Sentinel earlier this week that Fleischmann was playing with a serious hand injury.

It appeared that he was pushed from behind by Henrique, however, the call seemed to ignite the Panthers into scoring two power-play goals by Weiss and Marcel Goc to set up overtime.

"I don't really know why that goal didn't count,'' Matthias told NHL.com. "It's going to be a long summer thinking about that. … You've got to forget about those plays. But you have to remember this feeling right here."

The feeling will be sweeter when the Panthers hoist their first-ever Southeast Division championship banner next October. Young prospects such as goalie Jacob Markstrom and forward Jonathan Huberdeau will most likely be looking up from center ice.

So now the difficult decisions begin, starting with Saturday's exit meetings with Tallon and coach Kevin Dineen regarding which of the free agents to re-sign or release.

"We expected to go further. … I'm just proud I got to play with the guys this year. We had a great season,'' said forward Kris Versteeg, an impending restricted free agent.